It is foreseeable that in future it will be possible to drive motor vehicles in an automated or autonomous manner for relatively long distances. During automated driving, a driver of the motor vehicle is allowed to pay attention to other things, such as reading, writing, listening to music, gaming or other activities. Many of these activities take place on electronic devices, for example mobile telephones, tablets (computers with touch-sensitive displays, usually without keyboards), laptops (mobile computers), smart watches (small, networked computers worn on the wrist) or the like.
However, situations may arise in which a driver has to assume control of the motor vehicle. In some situations, an instance of human decision will be needed. It is also foreseeable that automated driving may not be permitted in certain regions, for example metropolitan areas, because of the possible risk to pedestrians. Thus, these situations may be planned, for example when entering a town or city, or unplanned, for example if a hazard situation occurs in which a decision is needed from the driver. The driver must therefore be given an indication that control of the vehicle must be taken again. It must be possible for such an indication to be perceived reliably by the driver.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,134,729 B1 discloses a method for transferring control of a vehicle from the driver to a control device of an automatically driving vehicle and for transferring control from the control device to the driver. In the event that the control computer cannot provide control of the vehicle any longer, the driver is warned by a color signal on the vehicle console or by an audible signal. The problem with this solution is that the attention of the driver is sometimes taken up with other activities, for example reading, writing or listening to music, and the driver is not looking in the direction of a visual warning signal or is distracted by sound exposure.
Accordingly, there is a need to improve communication of a transfer indication to the driver with greater reliability than previously such that the indication will be perceived.